Summer Yard Projects

First, I need to say...Dave is FABULOUS!! I'm so lucky to have a such a handyman around. I know he is so under appreciated and taken for granted. But, I am thankful for him just the same.
This summer (and every summer, really) Dave has taken the lead in all of our summer yard projects. This year, especially, he has been very ambitious. Everything is starting to look so nice. Really, if it were just me in charge, we would be lucky to have grass, let alone any kind of landscaping. So, here's an update of what's been going on around our yard:

CURBING:

Earlier in the summer, we got a good deal (with a little bit of trading) on some decorative curbing. We actually didn't have any plans to do anything with our front flower beds this year, but the deal was so good, we just couldn't pass it up. So, we got curbing. It's been fun - but quite the project hauling in dirt and bark...finding and planting bushes and flowers....watering the bushes and flowers so they don't die. But, the new flower beds look really good! We got curbing around the front and side of our house, out by our water spicket and well, by one of the power boxes on the edge of our property, AND around our side gravel driveway.

NEW DECK:

Probably the biggest project Dave tackled was our new deck. It's beautiful, though. He really worked incredibly hard. Early in the summer when we talked about getting a deck, we couldn't completely agree on how to do it. What we ended up doing is entirely Dave's vision. I guess instead of insisting that I really knew more about how to put a deck in, I should have just listened to begin with.

Max has had a BLAST helping his dad. He spent nearly an hour getting screws for Dave....one at a time. It's amazing he had the attention and patience for that (Max, of course - not Dave). Dave worked quite a bit in the evenings since it's cooler, so unless he was already asleep, Max pretty much spent every second he could helping his dad.

NEW TREES:

We've added new trees every year. It's fun to watch how fast they grow. I can't wait until they're big enough to give us some much needed shade and privacy. In a few years, I suppose. This year we added a willow, a purple robe locust (which is gorgeous in the spring when it fills with beautiful purple flowers) and a bunch of poplars. We put the poplars behind our garden along our property line, so that should give us a little bit of privacy in the back anyway. Current tree count: 15. WooHoo! I just want to add some apple trees sometime. We might wait until spring and get some bare root ones, though.

GARDEN:

I've already posted about our garden, which was a huge project in an of itself. But, Dave has really been such a help in keeping our garden weeded. When we planted, I had all these dreams of mornings spent weeding, the kids helping me harvest, and lots of home canning. I don't know. Maybe my dreams were unrealistic to begin with, but I'm starting to realize maybe they won't come totally to fruition. This pregnancy has made it hard to do little things like weed. Well, it won't be long until this baby makes his debut, and the garden will still have plenty of time left, so...I don't know....maybe my home canning goals won't be a total waste. In the meantime, though, Dave has worked hard weeding and weeding and weeding for me.